President Pratibha Patil [Images] has approved the law giving her a three-fold hike in salary taking her pay cheque to Rs 1.5 lakh from Rs 50,000 per month in the New Year.

She also gave her assent to another law that will hike the monthly salary of vice-president M H Ansari's salary from Rs 40,000 to Rs 1.25 lakh per month.

The hike comes a year after the Cabinet considered a proposal seeking an increment to the salary of India's First Citizen and enhancing post-retirement benefits for former presidents and vice-presidents.

Earlier, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images], had taken a decision to rationalise the salaries.

The hike comes close on the heels of government announcing a bonanza for its employees by implementing the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission report under which a secretary at the Centre will draw Rs 80,000 a month.

Immediately after the hike was announced, President Pratibha Patil contributed a month's salary to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund towards the relief and rehabilitation of those affected by Bihar floods.

The salary of president, which was fixed at Rs 10,000 in the Constitution, was gradually raised to Rs 50,000 a month in 1998 with effect from January 1, 1996. Almost everything that the President does or wants to do is taken care of by the annual Rs 22.5-crore budget that the government allots for his upkeep.